224 INSECT LIFE xvi
as it is for part of its length, is none the less re-
cognisable by the special look of the materials moved
about This passage, a finger's-breadth in size,
rectilinear or winding, longer or shorter, according to
the nature of the ground, measures eight to twelve
inches. It leads to a single chamber, hollowed in
damp sand, with walls undaubed with mortar, which
might prevent landslips and lend polish to the rough
surface. Enough if the ceiling lasts while the larva
is being fed up. Future falling-in matters little
when the larva is enclosed in its stout cocoon—a
kind of strong box, which we shall see in process of
construction. In workmanship the cell is as rustic
as possible, being merely a rude excavation with no
well-determined form, low roofed, and of a size which
might hold two or three nests.
Within lies one head of game—one only—quite
small and quite insufficient for the voracious nursling
for whom it is destined. It is a golden green-fly,
Lucilia Caesar, a dweller in tainted meat, and is quite
motionless. Is it really dead or only paralysed?
This will be cleared up later. Just now let us
observe the cylindrical egg upon its side, white,
slightly curved, and a couple of millimetres in length.
It is a Bembex egg. As we have foreseen from
the mother's behaviour, there is no pressing house-
hold business ; the egg is laid and a first ration
provided for the needs of the feeble larva, which
ought to hatch in twenty-four hours. For some
time the Bembex need not re-enter her hole, con-
fining herself to keeping a good lookout in the
neighbourhood, or possibly making new burrows and
laying there egg after egg, always in a separate cell